Galaxy Note 5 leak shows glass back, fixed battery, and no microSD slot

After Samsung axed the removable battery and microSD slot from the Galaxy S6, all eyes were on the Note 5 to see if Samsung would carry the move to its other big flagship. If a leak from Droid Life is to be believed, though, the Galaxy Note 5 will have a non-removable back, fixed battery, and no expandable storage.

Samsung has traditionally been a supporter of letting users take stuff out of their phone. From the Galaxy S5 and Note 4 on back, you've been able to pop off the back and swap out the battery and microSD card. With the Galaxy S6 though, Samsung switched from a removable, plastic back to a fixed glass back, and all of the removable components went with it. The result was a more premium-feeling device that seemed like it could compete with the iPhone, but many Samsung users were buying Samsung products specifically because of how it was different than the iPhone.

The Galaxy Note series is all about extras, with its huge screen and S-Pen stylus, so many Samsung fans were hoping that the Note 5 would keep the removable items. Droid Life claims to have the device in hand though, and it says nothing is removable. Like the S6, the report says base storage is now 32GB with 64GB and 128GB options available.

Overall the device is basically a big version of the Galaxy S6. Samsung is again going with glass sandwich with metal sides. While every device incorporates glass and is never meant to be dropped, a glass back makes an accidental drop a lot more likely to cause lasting damage. The sides are rounded metal, just like the Galaxy S6, with insulating plastic spacers around all the ports. The device still has a single, bottom-mounted speaker, and it still uses Micro USB 2.0 instead of the just-emerging USB Type C port.

The Note 5's biggest new design touch reminds us a lot of Xiaomi. The glass back of the Note 5 curves down toward the sides, the same unique design trait we really liked in the Xiaomi Mi Note. The S-Pen housing is different looking too. Instead of the side of the pen being exposed, allowing it to be pried out with a fingernail, on the Note 5 it looks fully embedded into the body. Presumably Samsung will be making use of an "auto-eject" patent it filed earlier, because there is no obvious way to get the pen out.

The Note 5 is expected to be unveiled on August 13, and we'll be at the show with all the details.